9.05.2006

wow. I learned that, even with my endurance, I stink at futbol. I wish I had learned to play futbol as a child...then maybe I would not have looked so silly when playing with a whole bunch of people from outside of the U.S. hehehe. I'll stick with running...no ball to worry about!

Granada has many cultural events to learn more about the great Spanish poet/artist F. G. Lorca. I attended a wonderful gallery exhibit of artwork, created by artists from around the world, in response to various works by Lorca. The exhibit is titled "Lorca: Ojo con la memoria".

One night, I went to the ballet of "Romancero Gitano" in which I saw a wonderful mixture of modern ballet, flamenco dance and culture, and Lorca poetry. The stage is set in a cool and romantic section of the Alhambra's generalife gardens...SO WONDERFUL!

I was also given the opportunity to attend a memorial for Lorca (he died 70 years ago) in a small pueblo outside of Granada. I attended with my Spanish Literature class and we were given V.I.P. treatment!! ... There are many sad details about the Spanish Civil War, and one of them is the fact that Lorca was murdered and buried in an unknown location in 1936. I am very grateful that I was given a chance to see this memorial service. There was even a wonderful concert at the end...I really enjoy Spanish guitar; and we had studied the sonnets that were performed in literature class...

The Spaniards know how to party...I visited Malaga one weekend, and discovered a city completely consumed by the fiestas of la feria. What a festival...

Noche 1 - Beautiful fireworks display accompanied by music...I think it was the best fireworks show I have ever seen! After the fireworks, Enrique Iglesias kicked off the concert at 12:30 am...we were listening/dancing/drinking on the beach until 5 am. We walked the city a bit, found a dive bar, returned to the beach for the sunrise, slept on two rented beach chairs until around 1 pm. We woke up to the beautiful beach-goers of southern Spain and took a nice swim in the Mediterranean *my first time* ...

Later that day...

We ate in a Chinese restaurant to see what that experience would be like in Spain...nothing special. We then used the lobby facilities of a nice hotel and picked up our bull fighting tickets.

Noche 2 - Bull fight! Brutal, interesting, very hot, 6 bulls died at the hands of the matadors...and one man was hit by a bull a few times. I am glad I experienced this piece of Spanish culture, but I can see why some people are not fans. I think it might be more interesting if the bulls were fighting each other.

Later that night we took the bus to the fair grounds, just happen to meet up with 3 Spanish friends from the beach concert, and danced in the discotecas until 5 am.I was falling asleep on my feet by the end of that. We returned to the bus station, slept a bit in the grass in front of the bus station, bought tickets, and passed out on the trip back to Granada.

I have returned to the U.S., yet I have still not updated my blog with the second half of my adventures in Spain. I will be doing that now, despite the fact that it feels a bit lame. I feel like it is the equivalent of buying people postcards and then handing them out upon your return to the country...it means a lot more if you send the postcards while you are still abroad (with foreign stamps). Oh well!

8.21.2006

Today, in my exploration of Granada, I went running to the top of one of the highest mountains that I can see on the outskirts of the city...

It was quite the hike. Very steep. But, the view from the top was well worth it. I think I discovered the best view of Granada. I ran along the remains of the Alhambra´s outer wall and I found a community of cave ¿dwellers? ¿squatters? ¿yo no sé? I am going to try researching these caves a bit more, but they were cave homes in the side of a mountain. They had little chimneys, doors, etc. I was amazed, I have NEVER seen anything like this before. I think there is no running water, nor electricity...I got the feeling that they are homes to nomads and/or gitanos (gypsies). Really great view...I´m going to go back up the hill once at night to take photos of the Alhambra at night.

8.07.2006

So, the thing to do around Granada is known as "botellón". I prefer going to tapas bars a bit as well (some tapas are free if you have some vino or a caña/beer), but it is pretty fun and cheap to do the botellón. It´s wierd for an American to see all the drinking in the streets.

8.06.2006

Last night, I attended a festival 3 hours out of Granada by autobus (into the mountains). The bus dropped us off about 4 km from this small town that was having the festival (Berchules) and we walked the rest of the way. What was the festival all about??...well...

We arrived around 10 or 11 pm, and at midnight, we brought in the new year!! Bienvenidos 2006. It seems this town didn´t have power one new year´s eve, so they celebrated in August that year...and it stuck. So, this festival was rocking...fake snow being thrown from the church´s bell tower and all. The countdown to midnight involved eating a grape for each of the last 12 seconds. The music started shortly after midnight and went on until the sun came up I imagine...I had to leave at 5 am.

So, drinking and dancing in the streets until the bus left at 5 am to get back to Granada. I was soaked with champaign (it was being sprayed on everyone from rooftops and the ground). I got back to Granada in time for 9 am breakfast with my host family. It was quite the experience.

In preparation for my departure, I have been looking at govt info about Spain. I found that the U.S. Embassy in Madrid has some warnings posted about anti-war protests that may be happening around the country...people don't really care for the Iraq situation, so I'll be sure to leave my pro-Bush t-shirts at home...I'm just joking...do they even make "pro-Bush" t-shirts?

Also, I registered my trip with the U.S. Embassy so that they will know I am in Spain ;-)

About Me

i am a food scientist & food enthusiast who likes to experiment in the kitchen. i also enjoy learning about international gastronomy, food policy, and nutritional anthropology.
i am always looking for new food experiences!
i am also in to endurance sports and travel.